INLAND FORECAST

Sunday: Highs 60-65. Partly cloudy in the in the morning, becoming mostly sunny later in the day.

Monday: Highs 64-69. Partly cloudy in the morning, becoming mostly sunny later in the day.

Tuesday: Highs 68-73. Mostly sunny.

Inland Mountains

Friday: Highs 63-68. Light winds

Saturday: Highs 53-62. Partly cloudy in the morning with a chance of showers in the afternoon. Snow possible above 7500 feet. Westerly winds of 15 to 20 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph early in the day, becoming 35 mph by the afternoon.

As people all over Southern California ascended to the mountains to enjoy the snow after recent El Niño storms, businesses were excited about the turnout, but some mountain residents were not.

The reason: Trash, and lots of it.

The deluge of visitors to both the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains to play in the snow left items behind in their wake. The mess has sparked the ire of the people who live in those areas.

“I have never seen that many people in town and that much trash,” said 10-year Idyllwild resident Mim Andrews. She said she picks up trash on her walk from work every day and has consistently been coming across paper trash and broken pieces of sleds.

Across Idyllwild earlier in the week, trash could be found on streets, sidewalks and parking lots. Idyllwild Nature Center, a popular destination for people who come up the mountain, had empty snow boots, broken sleds and soiled underwear scattered about.

Along a portion of Highway 243, Idyllwild resident Jay Mulder picked up napkins and wrappers that had been left behind. He said there was no limit to the kinds of things that could be found along the roadside.

“Fast food everything — mustard, ketchup, cans of soda and beer bottles,” he said. “If you can think of something that someone would take on a getaway, that’s what you will find out here.”

But Mulder, who regularly picks up trash throughout the area, has hope that he’s making a difference. He said he notices that areas that he cleans tend to stay cleaner than areas that he has not.

“Kind of subconsciously it creeps into their head, that, yeah, ‘we should pick up our stuff,’” Mulder said of tourists.

Traffic and trespassing also problems for mountain community

Laura Yilmazcetin of Angelus Oaks said it isn’t just a heavy amount of trash that’s been a problem since the recent snow storm, traffic has also been an issue.

She said drivers could be seen putting on snow chains in the middle of Highway 38. Some families had even set up barbecues on the highway itself, she said.

“I don’t know what part of, ‘this is a state highway,’ people don’t get,” she said.

Marge Muir, an Idyllwild-based Realtor, said traffic never stopped during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.

“It looked like they had put all these cars on a conveyer belt,” she said. “All these cars kept coming and going, and no one ever stopped.”

Andrews said she had difficulties with trespassers, some of whom climbed over her fence to play with snow in her yard.

She said at least five groups of people had entered her yard and one of those groups threw snowballs at her pet dog. She had to call sheriff’s deputies after one rowdy group refused to leave, she said.

“I asked them to please leave, and every single person that I asked to leave, said, ‘No,’” Andrews said. “Everyone. It was astounding.”

Forest Service officials shut down the parking lot to Idyllwild’s Humber Park on Monday because of icy conditions and put signage in place to let motorists know. U.S. Forest Service San Jacinto District Ranger Arturo Delgado said some people appeared to be ignoring those signs and attempting to park in the area anyway.

Several mountain residents say that, in the wake of a particularly snowy season, they hope tourists will consider the residents of the towns they are visiting.

“Please appreciate our beautiful town,” Andrews said. “I love this town, I chose to be here, it’s gorgeous and it has wonderful people. ... Please appreciate how lovely it is here.”

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